Facebook Purges Pro-Gun Accounts

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
December 27, 2012
Facebook is purging accounts that carry pro-second amendment and pro-liberty information in a censorship purge that has accelerated over the past few hours, with innumerable pages being disappeared merely for posting legitimate political content.

NaturalNews.com’s Mike Adams contacted us to alert us to the fact that “Facebook banned our account for posting this,” with an attached image of a Gandhi quote about how the British disarmed the citizenry during their rule in India.

http://static.prisonplanet.com/p/images/december2012/271212image.jpg

The following is a list of Facebook accounts operated by individuals in the alternative media that have been shut down by Facebook staff over the past 24 hours. Infowars writer Aaron Dykes and political dissident Brandon J. Raub have also had their accounts deleted. Raub was snatched by police and forcibly imprisoned in a psychiatric ward earlier this year for posting political content on Facebook. Infowars editor Kurt Nimmo also had his account suspended this morning.

It is important to stress that most of these accounts have not simply been temporarily suspended, they have been shut down completely. Some are now being reinstated after complaints. Accounts that have been suspended can still be seen but posting rights have been revoked.

A 24 hour suspension was also placed on the Alex Jones Facebook account due to an image that another user had posted in which Alex Jones was tagged.

One of the messages being received by users having their accounts suspended is displayed below. In most cases, users are not even being informed of why their page was suspended or deleted, with Facebook merely referring them to the company’s guidelines.

Last week, we reported on how Facebook was suspending user accounts that questioned the official narrative behind the Sandy Hook school massacre.

As we have previously highlighted, Facebook occasionally deletes images and posts that it claims violate “Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities,” yet constitute little more than political conjecture or a healthy skepticism of official narratives on current events.

In September 2011, Infowars reporter Darrin McBreen was told by Facebook staff not to voice his political opinion on the social networking website.

Responding to comments McBreen had made about off-grid preppers being treated as criminals, the “Facebook Team” wrote, “Be careful making about making political statements on facebook,” adding, “Facebook is about building relationships not a platform for your political viewpoint. Don’t antagonize your base. Be careful and congnizat (sic) of what you are preaching.”

See how easy it is. No need for censorship laws, no need for executive orders, no need for discussion of constitutional rights, no way to get a court to intervene.

Simply a private choice of a private media company to close down discussion that does not conform to their political agenda. Of course, it might well be that their action was "suggested" by "someone", but that doesn't make any difference. No government decisions, no debate, no arguments or recourse.

Same effect, though. Dissent is suppressed. I am sure those nice folks at Facebook have been promised jobs at the concentration camps.

Jim

Buck Kramer

December 27, 2012, 09:55 PM

Deleted mine a week ago, beat them to the punch.

Cesiumsponge

December 27, 2012, 09:57 PM

Facebook can do whatever it wants. It's a private entity and a free product.

Someone can go start up a Gunbook if they wanted to. Or just send in mass complaints. That's how small groups get big companies to cave.

chris in va

December 27, 2012, 10:00 PM

Step inside private property, certain rights can be legally suspended. When I worked at a major auto manufacturing distributor, they made it very clear my first and second amendment rights were null and void while on the property.

Shinbone

December 27, 2012, 10:03 PM

One more reason why I will have nothing to do with Facebook.

Hacker15E

December 27, 2012, 10:03 PM

There is no "right to free speech" on a privately-owned bit of media.

Queen_of_Thunder

December 27, 2012, 10:09 PM

Do I approve of their actions, no, but like I've seen on every gun forum when there is a disagreement the standard refrain that pops up is "their site their rules".

DammitBoy

December 27, 2012, 10:09 PM

Been using mine to support gun rights and to solicit folks to join the NRA. Wonder how long it will take them to shut mine down?

Arkansas Paul

December 27, 2012, 10:10 PM

The "Cold Dead Hands" page is still up. That's my favorite one anyway.
And the NRA page is up and running with nearly 90k likes. I think if they had a serious anti-gun agenda, that would be the first one they shut down.

somerandomguy

December 27, 2012, 10:11 PM

Facebook can do whatever it wants. It's a private entity and a free product.

Someone can go start up a Gunbook if they wanted to. Or just send in mass complaints. That's how small groups get big companies to cave.
Technically it can't. It can still sell your info even if your Facebook account is banned. Isn't that messed up?

Liberty1776

December 27, 2012, 10:16 PM

Psss on Facebook. I voluntarily stopped using it back in October. Never going back.

Old Fuff

December 27, 2012, 10:16 PM

Facebook can do whatever it wants. It's a private entity and a free product.

Yes they can, but I have an equal right to have nothing to do with them.

And I don't hesitate to exercise that right. Hopefully others that belive in gun rights will do exactly the same.

Cesiumsponge

December 27, 2012, 10:16 PM

Technically it can't. It can still sell your info even if your Facebook account is banned. Isn't that messed up?

Terms of Service Agreement. If they were breaking a law, the user-base is large enough that a class action would slap shareholders into paying out big time.

Ryanxia

December 27, 2012, 10:19 PM

While I agree the company has a right to do this, it blows me away.

The line must be drawn here. Either we stand for our rights or roll over.

See signature.

ColtPythonElite

December 27, 2012, 10:21 PM

Never had Facebook. Never wanted Facebook.

snakeman

December 27, 2012, 10:21 PM

Mine is still active

Safety First

December 27, 2012, 10:22 PM

I can't help but wonder what other topics of conversation Face book has felt the moral imperative to shut down an account?

22-rimfire

December 27, 2012, 10:22 PM

Never liked Facebook and I refuse to open an account there.

DammitBoy

December 27, 2012, 10:27 PM

I can't help but wonder what other topics of conversation Face book has felt the moral imperative to shut down an account?

Any account that discussed breast-feeding in public as a right was the last one I recall.

Plenty of my friends use facebook to discuss guns and hunting. We even have facebook group pages with hundreds of members where you can buy/sell/trade firearms.

Like most things, facebook is what you make of it.

Cesiumsponge

December 27, 2012, 10:29 PM

Ah yes, the communists. It all makes perfect sense :rolleyes:

Warp

December 27, 2012, 10:29 PM

I discuss guns on my Facebook all the time. Guns are present in many of my pictures, including my profle type pic and my big timeline pic. I have Likes on a lot of gun companies and manufacturers and Pro 2A organizations.

And my account has never gone anyway or, as far as I can tell, been bothered in any way

303tom

December 27, 2012, 10:36 PM

GUN & GAME still have there site up, at least they did a little bit ago.............

Ms_Dragon

December 27, 2012, 10:40 PM

I deleted my FB account a few months ago and that pencil necked Mike Zuckerberg can go and eat my shorts.

Jorg Nysgerrig

December 27, 2012, 10:41 PM

Is there a more reliable site than infowars.com discussing this?

It's pretty hard to take anything from those crackpots seriously.

phillipduran

December 27, 2012, 10:50 PM

You do have a right to free speech even on private property and where you are employed.

Private property owners also enjoy the right to declare you a trespasser if you do not leave when requested and employers can fire you for not adhering to company policy.

There is no suspension of free speech rights just revocation of private property use for any reason the owners choose.

BemidjiDweller

December 27, 2012, 11:23 PM

Glad I "deactivated" my own account last week. Never going back.

Warp

December 27, 2012, 11:24 PM

You do have a right to free speech even on private property and where you are employed.

Private property owners also enjoy the right to declare you a trespasser if you do not leave when requested and employers can fire you for not adhering to company policy.

There is no suspension of free speech rights just revocation of private property use for any reason the owners choose.

Which means, in the context of this thread, what the OP is suggesting is still 'okay' behavior

hogshead

December 27, 2012, 11:29 PM

Much Ado about nothing?

Lost Sheep

December 27, 2012, 11:40 PM

The "Cold Dead Hands" page is still up. That's my favorite one anyway.
And the NRA page is up and running with nearly 90k likes. I think if they had a serious anti-gun agenda, that would be the first one they shut down.
It seems to me that they would pick the low-hanging fruit first (the ones that are safest to delete). To knock off a popular member, they would get a LOT of kickback. However, once the supporters have been suppressed (by nibbling around the edges) and the numbers have dwindled, watch out!

In a phrase, "Divide and Conquer".

or, to learn from history:
(Martin Niemöller)

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.

Lost Sheep

p.s. Whether the reports of FaceBook's activites are true or not, this is an effective tactic which has been used by anti-gun activists in the past and will be in the future, I think.

ball3006

December 27, 2012, 11:40 PM

my account is still open. I guess I better look again....chris3

barnbwt

December 27, 2012, 11:40 PM

Simply a private choice of a private media company to close down discussion that does not conform to their political agenda.

Well, that's what happens when you become too dependant upon a single outlet for your message. THR could just as easily (though nonsensically) up and refuse to allow posting of gun-rights related topics, or even political discussion (;)) if they felt the need. The key is diversification; if you want to be heard, do so in as many ways as possible.

TCB

Carter

December 27, 2012, 11:42 PM

All of the gun pages I've liked are still there.

481

December 27, 2012, 11:43 PM

Finding this out makes me glad that I've never had anything to do with FB in the first place.

sleepyone

December 27, 2012, 11:49 PM

Never had a FB account. Never will. Must be THE biggest time waster ever foisted on the world and is sucking the life out of country. My wife has it only to monitor our daughters. I can't believe the drivel that people think everyone else wants to know.

Warp

December 27, 2012, 11:51 PM

Never had a FB account. Never will. Must be THE biggest time waster ever foisted on the world and is sucking the life out of country. My wife has it only to monitor our daughters. I can't believe the drivel that people think everyone else wants to know.

It is what you make of it.

Onward Allusion

December 27, 2012, 11:54 PM

LOL! Never had a FB page; never used FB; I have always told friends & family that there's a reason why former friends are in the past and there's no need for 'em to be "friends" on FB. I rather deal with people in the RL. Luddite? Um, heck no...I run IT Ops for a billion dollar corporation. Yeah, that's with a B. :cool:

Word to the unwise...you sign up for FB, anything you say/post will be used against you sometime down the road. In this climate of anti-RKBA, I wouldn't be surprised if employers are scouring FB to reduce liability from their crop of current employees (hint, hint...refer back to 1st paragraph)...

gunNoob

December 27, 2012, 11:57 PM

nice

Bob M.

December 27, 2012, 11:58 PM

LOL! Never had a FB page; never used FB; I have always told friends & family that there's a reason why former friends are in the past and there's no need for 'em to be "friends" on FB. I rather deal with people in the RL. Luddite? Um, heck no...I run IT Ops for a billion dollar corporation. Yeah, that's with a B.

Word to the unwise...you sign up for FB, anything you say/post will be used against you sometime down the road. In this climate of anti-RKBA, I wouldn't be surprised if employers are scouring FB to reduce liability from their crop of current employees (hint, hint...refer back to 1st paragraph)...

I've never had a FB account and never will for all the same reasons above. :)

BCCL

December 27, 2012, 11:59 PM

Not one of the pro-2A pages I "like" has been taken down, I preach 2A stuff on FB almost daily and have never had a problem.

I get that a lot of folks follow infowars, but is there any other more valid source for this?

Warp

December 28, 2012, 12:00 AM

LOL! Never had a FB page; never used FB; I have always told friends & family that there's a reason why former friends are in the past and there's no need for 'em to be "friends" on FB. I rather deal with people in the RL. Luddite? Um, heck no...I run IT Ops for a billion dollar corporation. Yeah, that's with a B. :cool:

Word to the unwise...you sign up for FB, anything you say/post will be used against you sometime down the road. In this climate of anti-RKBA, I wouldn't be surprised if employers are scouring FB to reduce liability from their crop of current employees (hint, hint...refer back to 1st paragraph)...

We don't all have the ability to deal with people in real life in an efficient manner. Other than my wife and I, our nearest family member lives 700 miles away. Via Facebook we can upload pictures we took right there, of us, and everybody in our family can see them within the minute. How do you propose that happen without social media? It absolute helps us stay more connected and up to date with our family, and no "real life" (I assume you mean face to face when you say this?) or over-the-phone option can match that.

Also, you are WAAAY behind the curve if you are only just now speculating that maybe potential/current employers look employees up on Facebook.

If a website is a time waster for you, it's your fault for using it as such.

And frankly, I (and probably most of the rest of you) 'waste' a HELL of a lot more time on THR than on Facebook

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
December 27, 2012
Facebook is purging accounts that carry pro-second amendment and pro-liberty information in a censorship purge that has accelerated over the past few hours,
I wish someone would purge Infowars from the Internet.
Biggest source of crackpot "info" out there.

Anytime i read an Infowars post I automatically assume it is false.

Davek1977

December 28, 2012, 12:10 AM

I've posted nothing BUT pro 2A stuff on my facebook for weeks, and no issue. The source is Alex Jones. That is enough for me to view it with suspicion. He's been known to view things a bit "differently" than most, and without further confirmation that pro gun messages are what got these pages deleted, I'm not going to immediately believe it

Arkansas Paul

December 28, 2012, 12:41 AM

Like I said in post #11, if they had a serious anti-gun agenda, they would shut down the NRA's page first. I suspect it is BS. Just my 0.02

Justin

December 28, 2012, 12:46 AM

Is there a more reliable site than infowars.com discussing this?

It's pretty hard to take anything from those crackpots seriously.

DINGDINGDING.

I'm sorry, but Alex Jones and his merry band of lunatics who see a conspiracy behind every human action just have no credibility.

Were Facebook really working to shut down discussions of gun rights, why haven't they closed down the accounts for organizations like the NRA, Second Amendment Foundation, or even the American Silencer Association?

303tom

December 28, 2012, 12:49 AM

All of the gun pages I've liked are still there.
This is my like button...........

303tom

December 28, 2012, 12:50 AM

Hey Mods. we need a like button..................

9MMare

December 28, 2012, 12:53 AM

I've got quite a bit on my FB page and got into quite a few discussions on there last week. Didnt go back to the discussions but my stuff and my acct are still there. I'm small potatoes :-)

DammitBoy

December 28, 2012, 01:06 AM

Were Facebook really working to shut down discussions of gun rights, why haven't they closed down the accounts for organizations like the NRA, Second Amendment Foundation, or even the American Silencer Association?

Because they're helping the NSA create a list of folks to put in the concentration camps? :eek:

KenW.

December 28, 2012, 01:06 AM

The Founders could not have forseen facebook when they wrote the First Amendment. Therefore, it can be censored at will. Kind of like they couldn't foresee the advent of semi-auto sporting arms based on military designs either.

marv

December 28, 2012, 01:12 AM

I cancelled my facebook account using the protocol to make it permanent and total. Months later I'm still getting emails inviting me back. You can't get away from them.

Onward Allusion

December 28, 2012, 01:18 AM

Also, you are WAAAY behind the curve if you are only just now speculating that maybe potential/current employers look employees up on Facebook

Um, ok... ;)

I'm not knocking your use of FB. If you use it, use it wisely. That's all. I personally don't have any use for it.

BTW, the research is not performed manually. There are automated agents that scour the Interweb for verboten subject matter and is cross referenced to individuals and not necessarily proper names. Handles, user-names, matched to individual names... The entire process is automated and is not boolean in nature but based on Bayesian inference. You'd be (or might not be) surprised at what can be dug up. :)

DammitBoy

December 28, 2012, 01:48 AM

Via Facebook we can upload pictures we took right there, of us, and everybody in our family can see them within the minute. How do you propose that happen without social media? It absolute helps us stay more connected and up to date with our family...

Also, you are WAAAY behind the curve if you are only just now speculating that maybe potential/current employers look employees up on Facebook.

If a website is a time waster for you, it's your fault for using it as such.

And frankly, I (and probably most of the rest of you) 'waste' a HELL of a lot more time on THR than on Facebook

Ding, ding, ding - we have a winner. It's also a great way to keep in touch with friends you don't normally get to see across the country. With respect to gun rights, my page is full of 2nd amendment pics, quotes, and shared thoughts amongst like-minded friends.

Agsalaska

December 28, 2012, 02:07 AM

This thread is a bunch of nonsense. We should never get 3 pages deep attacking a business when the only source used for the attack is info wars. :banghead:

CharlieBT

December 28, 2012, 02:12 AM

I thought Zuckerberg made headlines earlier this year by posting handguns he liked on Pinterest. Anybody remember that?

Justin

December 28, 2012, 02:17 AM

Because they're helping the NSA create a list of folks to put in the concentration camps?

You win the thread.

Texan Scott

December 28, 2012, 08:50 AM

Where FB is concerned, I chose my right to privacy over speech long ago. They can have it.

fxstchewy

December 28, 2012, 09:06 AM

Never saw the need to know when everybody goes to the toilet, about all it's good for.

MrTwigg

December 28, 2012, 09:22 AM

Geez, and there are people telling me there will not be another civil war.

Except it's already started.

Sam1911

December 28, 2012, 09:54 AM

Closed pending verification OTHER THAN INFOWARS.

(Under discussion in Staff at the moment: Whether mentioning INFOWARS should be a bannable offense. ... OOPS, I mentioned them! :eek: ;))

LNK

December 28, 2012, 10:02 AM

Never felt the need to go there. I have been asked by relatives to get a facebook page and I asked them why. They said, "so we can stay in touch". I said, "like we are right now?". Made them stop asking anyway....

LNK

SaxonPig

December 28, 2012, 10:09 AM

I assume they posted things that were offensive or problematic. I have "unfriended" a few people for their postings. I don't think legitimate discourse on 2A gets one dumped from facebook but calls for violence or other inflammatory things will.